Chapter 5 - THE THREE SHARES
Nora sealed the place card inside an evidence sleeve.
We did not know who wrote it.
Faye remembered finding it on a tray near Marguerite’s handbag.
“I thought it showed where we would sit,” she said.
There had been no seats for them.
Nora asked Edward’s attorney what “three shares” meant.
He called the note meaningless.
The sale documents told a different story. They referred repeatedly to three protected interests requiring adult administration.
No names appeared.
Marguerite responded by filing an eviction action against me through the property company. She claimed my apartment was provided as part of my former employment and that I had no right to remain after leaving Thorn House.
My lease proved otherwise, but defending it required time.
Edward offered a settlement.
Fifty thousand dollars.
Six months of rent.
The child-welfare complaint withdrawn.
All I had to do was sign the sale consent and agree that the banquet conflict resulted from my “emotional instability.”
“No,” I said.
He looked tired rather than angry.
“Your mother protected you from consequences.”
“Mom is dead.”
“And you are dismantling what she built.”
“Then show me the documents.”
His expression closed.
He left Nora’s office without answering.
That night someone broke into my apartment building’s management room and erased a week of hallway footage. Nothing inside my apartment was touched.
The deletion made my next claim harder to prove.
A padded envelope had been pushed beneath my door.
Inside was a photograph of my children standing near the banquet coat rack.
Across their faces, someone had written:
SIGN BEFORE THEY LOSE MORE THAN DINNER.
On the back was the name of Faye’s school.
May you like
Marguerite was no longer threatening only my housing.
Someone was watching my children.
